Mob Justice

20 February 2013, 15:00

I am appalled at the behavior of people when something bad happens. When Burry Stander was killed in an accident, everyone was baying for revenge – anybody cared to follow up on what has happened since? It does not even get mentioned on News24 as it is old news and won’t get hits. Now everybody is crucifying Pistorius, without any idea of what went down. There is a mentality off “something bad happened, some(any)body must pay to make all feel better.” Never mind justice.

I am also appalled at the media reporting on these things. If you read the full affidavit and day2 of the bail hearing of Oscar Pistorius it becomes clear that the reporting on the shooti0ng of Reeva Steenkamp has been grossly inaccurate – as a result of that the public has already found him guilty. His lawyer (Roux) has destroyed testimony by investigating officer (Botha) – read http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/LIVE-UPDATES-Pistorius-in-court-day-2-20130220. How can any self-respecting journalist publish such crap as we have read in the last few days – and the public just laps it up.

Personally I have been misquoted in the media and have seen how inaccurate reporting can be in areas where I am at the coalface – remember that because it is written does not mean that it is true. What I see here is a man that has lost a lot – sponsors, girlfriend and income – and have to live with the fact that he pulled the trigger for the rest of his life regardless the outcome of the case. I see someone that (seemingly) genuinely grieves. Guilty of negligence, possession of an unlicensed firearm (not the one used in the shooting) – sure. Guilty of murder – I don’t know, but for now I will go with “Innocent until proven Guilty”. I am not going to try and answer questions on his affidavit - that will be covered in the bail and subsequent hearings.

Personally I do not like Pistorius – I think he is rude and arrogant. But that does not mean he is a murderer. If anything, we have seen in this case why mob justice can never work.

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